Happy Birthday Ivan Moody – The Craziest Interview I’ve Ever Done
Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch perches on top of a monitor during a performance at Ford Field in Detroit on November 12, 2023.
As we say Happy Birthday to Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody (January 7), it reminded me of the craziest interview I’ve done.
Let me take you back to the summer of 2018. Pine Knob was still called by the other name. I was scheduled to talk with Ivan around 5:30 and had to meet back by the dressing room area. No problem. Myself and my videographer, Erik, made our way backstage a little before the time to meet up with Ivan’s assistant. He told us to wait in Ivan’s dressing room while he went to search for him. Easy enough, this isn’t that uncommon. While he was out, Erik set up the video equipment to prepare for Ivan’s arrival and interview.
The assistant came back a few minutes later and said that Ivan wanted to do the interview on the hill. Now, the gates opened at 5:30 so of course I asked him if he knew that people were now in the venue. He said he did and wanted to do it up there. Ok, I’m game. All I have to do is set up the interview on the hill, his guys have to get him up there and make sure the place is secure.
Around 5:45 or so, I see a lot of activity coming from my left, as Ivan, decked out in a Detroit Lions jersey starts making his way up to us in the center of the lawn. Yes, this was going to happen! By now, about 300 people started congregating around us. Ivan made his way up to us, surrounded by security, but not locked down like people couldn’t high-five or say Hello to him. He sliced through the crowd slapping hands and waving to fans.
As soon as he reached us, I didn’t waste any time getting into the interview for two reasons. One, it wasn’t time for small talk as a lot of people had gathered around us. And two, the opening band, Bad Wolves, were going on any minute. As it turned out, the interview only lasted about five minutes because the band did come on. Ivan thanked me for the time and he was off through the crowd, back to the backstage area to prepare for the show.
I received a note later from his security thanking me for doing it, and that it was the first time they’d ever done anything like that. They weren’t sure how it would go. I guess it went well on their end, and it gave the fans a cool chance to be up close to the singer.
I’ve talked to Ivan since then, and he always brings that up. Happy Birthday, dude!
Check out some pictures from the interview and many from the show, below, along with Erik’s account of what happened. His is probably more accurate as he wrote it right after it happened. I mean, it was six years ago!
-Meltdown-
TBT: Five Finger Death Punch at DTE in 2018
We cant help but look back at our favorite shows from years past as we continue to miss live music. Since we were supposed to see Five Finger Death Punch at Little Caesars Arena in May lets take it back to 2018 when they came to DTE Energy Music Theatre with Breaking Benjamin, Nothing More and Bad Wolves. Over the years we’ve been fortunate enough to conduct interviews with bands when they come through town. It doesn’t happen too often but when the opportunity comes we will obviously take it if we can. This particular night we got to talk with all of the bands but it didn’t necessarily go as planned. It was our last meet and greet and interview and it was with FFDP and Meltdown was lined up to chat with Ivan. After we were done with the meet and greet we were told to setup our camera in Ivan’s dressing room and wait for him to come in. A good 10 minutes goes by after we were done setting up and one of the members of the FFDP crew came in asking if Ivan had showed up yet as they were looking for him too. He then shot him a call and Ivan said he was out in the crowd talking to fans and forgot about the interview. At that point I figured it wasn’t going to happen but then he asked if we could be mobile with our camera and asked if we could do this on the lawn. I quickly grabbed what I could and told our promo guy (Rev Rob) to get the rest and said “lets go!” and then we ran out from backstage onto the hill. A few minutes later Ivan walks up and we did the interview. It was a pretty exciting and totally random moment being able to do record an interview like that. So if you were at that show and witnessed it and wondered how or why we set it up like that, there is your answer. It was totally unplanned and the spur of the moment or what I like to call it, radio on the fly. So be sure to check out that video below as well as some photo from the show.
The originally scheduled date of May 12th was pushed back to November 8, 2020. It is still not clear when we will be able to go back to attending shows but if any info changes we will keep you informed. Until then be sure to check out their latest album “F8” if you haven’t done so already.
Meltdown started on the mighty WRIF on the evening of Halloween, 1995. Technically, his first on-air shift was the morning of November 1st. Moving to the Motor City from Buffalo, N.Y., he has built a career and family. Over his almost three-decade stint at RIFF, he's had the privilege to work with some of the biggest personalities in Detroit radio history. He boasts of being just the second-afternoon drive jock in the station's illustrious 53-year history.
Along with his love for rock music and attending concerts, he's also an avid Harley-Davidson enthusiast and hockey player. He plays year-round and manages to squeeze in a few charity games throughout the year. Meltdown writes about the Detroit Red Wings, rock music, and Detroit concert venues.
